'It's very dangerous': B.C. physician warns Delta variant could lead to serious illness, break-through cases

Fraser Health licensed practical nurse Femia Gabiana, second right, administers a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to a woman at a walk-up vaccination clinic at Bear Creek Park, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, May 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Vancouver -

With COVID-19 cases rising in B.C. and the majority of them a highly contagious variant, a B.C. physician is warning of the dangers to those who are unvaccinated.

CTV Morning Live spoke with family physician Dr. Rhonda Low Wednesday, who said the Delta variant poses a significant risk.

"It's very dangerous. We are seeing it now, even among the young people who cannot be vaccinated yet, and we're getting very serious disease that requires hospitalization and some folks are even dying," Low said.

"We now know that 95 per cent who have COVID in our community now were unvaccinated. Our current problem is a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

A report issued last week by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control showed 95 per cent of all positive tests from the province during the last week of July were the Delta variant. 

Delta is the dominant strain of the coronavirus in every health authority, according to that BCCDC report.

The highly transmissible variant was responsible for 99 per cent of infections in Interior Health during the last week of July. It was also responsible for 96 per cent of infections in Island Health, 90 per cent in Fraser Health, 88 per cent in Vancouver Coastal Health and 79 per cent in Northern Health.

Low warned that while vaccines "are very effective" at preventing people from getting very sick, requiring hospitalization or dying from the disease, they aren't 100 per cent effective.

"This Delta variant replicates so quickly and it's so contagious, a vaccinated person can still get a break-through infection where you might not have symptoms or you might only get mildly sick, but you could pass it on," she said.

"If you have those mild symptoms of cough, sore throat or even shortness of breath, you might have COVID, so go get yourself tested and self-isolate."

For those who can't get vaccinated yet – like children under the age of 12 – Low said it's important to protect them in other ways.

"The best way to protect kids is to surround them with people who have been vaccinated. So that means parents, older siblings, caregivers, grandparents," she said. "You want a shield of vaccinated people around the little ones so they can at least have a better chance."

Low said she's hoping studies will be completed by the end of this year so vaccines are approved for kids under the age of 12.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ian Holliday